Antiscald and proportioning valve



April 22, 1952 P. W. SANFORD ANTISCALD AND PROPORTIONING VALVE FiledOct. 25,

1 PI.Z

IN VEN TOR.

Patented Apr. 22, 1952 UNETED STATES ENT @FHCE one-half to ShepherdMachine a Tool Co., Inc., indianapolis, Ind., both corporationsApplication cameras, ieisfseriai No. 55.4.03

This invention relates to a valve unit capable of multiple functioning'.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a valve unitthat is' capable of functioning as an anti-scald valve and which may beutilized -for common' orr independent discharges.

One chief feature of the inventionl resides in its simplicity ofconstruction.,

Another chief feature residesI in: the specific piston type: memberAutilized.V A thirdfchierfeature resides in the partition plug' utilizedwhen independent discharges'v are being illustrated in the cold Watersupply position.

Fig. 2' is a side elevation of the valve unit, the. supply anddischargev lines being omitted.

Fig.. 3 is a bottom plan view; the supply lines being omitted.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are longitudinal sectional'. views of modiiied forms ofpistorrvalve'.

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of the partition plug.

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of the clean-out plug.

Fig. 9 isa view takenv on line S-Si of Fig. l and in the direction ofthe arrows and with the separation plug removed.

In Fig. 1, H and C designate hot and cold Water supply lines and HH andCC' hot and'coldI water discharge lines. lil indicates generally a valvebody having intake ports i l and i2' and discharge ports I3 and iii.

In proximity to portions l la and E201, and cornmunicating therewith isa transverse intake 'bore I5 opening at I6 and adapted to receivecut-off and clean-out plug Il, see Figs'. l and 8, having threaded endI8 and two spaced, transversely disposed passages i9 and 20therethrough.

The body, opposite portions Ila and IZa, has ports 2| and 22 alignedwith said portions. A cylinder bore 23 has one end exposed at 2A andslidably supported therein is piston valve 25, the latter retained by'clean-out plugV 26. e

vportion 38'.

The cylinder bore 23S is disposed parallel to bore it. Parallel theretois discharge bore 2l opening outwardly' at 223y to take, clean-out andclosure plug 29. A pair of tangentially disposed ports 2id are directedfrom the cylindrical bore toward thev center of the receiving borey El.A similarly disposed pair of ports 3E are cppositely directed and* thebody stock therebetween is circularly counterbored, as at 3i, seevFigs,v land 9.

` he body, in alignment with ports and iii, includes portions i3d andlariF which communicate-,with reoeiverborei'. Between ports l.. andidis` the threaded opening 3.2i adapted to take the separator plug 33,see Figs. 1 land '7, saineV having stem Bil and vane termination Whenthis plug is positioned as, shown inv Fig.V l the hot and cold watersides are independent. When the vane is disposed at right angles to thatposition,v the width thereof is not sufficient to bridge. the gap acrossthe respective pairs oi` ports 27am-2a and Sile-3E and also said vane isnot long enough. Consequently, when the plug is thus positioned, bore 2lcomprises a mixing chamber.

When cleaning, repair, or replacement is' required shut oil? plug ll maybe turned: or so Yand both supplies H and C are cut oli for suchservice. y

Reference will nowl be had to the piston valve shown in Fig. 1 andseveral modifications thereof "shovfninFigsL ll, 5, and 6.

ln Fig. 1 the piston valve 25 includes two. cp'- positely directed,axially aligned elongated chambers 3d'. and 3l separated by the centralpartition Each chamber opens at' the other end', and vdefining suchopening is the lip 35e andr 31a'.

l-Iereinv the piston includes a plurality of spaced annular channels 38and Sb and 39a' and 391 providing end collars 0 and d I, intermediatecollars 2 and 43 and central collar Ml. Connectinsr vchannel 38a withchamber 3S are the ports 5.

Channel 38h' connects therewith by ports 4B. Chamber 3i communicateswith channel 393 by ports ill and with channel 3W by ports t3.

In Fig. l the lands aforesaid have av` common diameter slightly lessthan. the cylinder bore. In Fig. 4' numerals or the one hundred seriesdesignate like or corresponding parts. This form 'only differs from Fig.l by thev land la@ being longitudinally ported as at e, the land |42 asat i423, the land Ml as at Ulla, and the land |43 as at 443e. Centralland HM is not so ported.

in Fig. 5 the corresponding parts are designatedf by numerals of the twohundred series.

Herein, likeFig. l, the. lands are; not'porteda 11'1- certain pistonscertain of the piston ports mayv be omitted. Special operating.conditions. will determine which specic form of piston is to bepreferred over the others, although all forms are functionallyoperative.

The structure hereinbefore described is extremely sensitive and by wayof example only results of one piston embodiment, 4tested at thePittsburgh testing laboratory, (shows lthe followlng:

With the cold water supply at 6'7 degrees un- .der 70 pounds per squareinch and the hot water supply at 142 degrees under the same pressure,

the respective pressures were at 59% and 601/2 pounds'per square inch,with the desired water blendzat 100 degrees. When the cold watersupply-was robbed by draw-off to the extent,l of 49H2 pounds per squareinch, the 100 degree temperature was still maintained. When due to lossof temperature in the hot water supply yof one de- .gree and excessivedraw-off again sustained, the

resulting blend temperature was. 991A` to 100 degrees. Thus only adiference, over the entire "range, of approximately 1/2 degreeoccurred.. The

closest commercial structure known, when tested under identicalconditions, has a range of 14 degrees of variation. The present valve,accordingly, may be said to be peculiarly applicable to .maintain aslong as supply temperatures are maintained, a constant predeterminedblend temperature, regardless of cold water draw-01T or robbing.

'I'he foregoing data relates to the Fig. l piston in a cvlinder of .625diameter with a clearance of .003". Pistons similar thereto,v but havingclearances-of .001" Jand .005", Were also, tested .and maximumtemperature differenceswere 1% degrees for all pistons. the hof. watersupply temperatures, in these higher diiTerences, dropping as much as 2%to 3 degrees'.

These tests demonstrated that the tight piston was too sluggish,relatively speaking, and loosest piston performed excellently. The'intermediate side piston 'functioned within one-half degree even thoughthe hot water supply temperature dropped 1 degree. Without supplytemperature udrop, the blend temperature was maintained.

Accordingly, the intermediate piston, if it should wear in use to thesize of the loosest piston, will still perform far better than any otherknown `anti-scald valvez structure.

If it be assumed that the supplies C and H are subject to line pressure,cut-01T valve l'!k can cut vsame off for cleaning, repairing, and/orreplacedegrees thereto. Whatever valve setting is provided, the pistonvalve, regardless of cold water draw-o will maintain the predeterminedblend temperature. 5 Of course, if desired, a single common dischargeline may be applied to opening 32 and openings I3 and I4 plugged forsingle line discharge. of a wide variety of uses.

The fundamental characteristic of the piston valve, see Fig. 1, and itsoperation is that all the water passed to discharge passes through thevalve and the valve is of the automatic proportioning type for blendconstant temperature l5 maintenance. The vanesA utilized are providedfor greater sensitivity.

The piston is arranged so that the high pressure will closetoward thelow pressure side at theY same time thereby maintaining thepredetermined proportion.

In Fig. 1 high pressure in supply H and no pressure in cold water supplyC results in the piston valve moving to the left to the position shown.This prevents accidental scalding. Upon 25 cold water draw-01T cessationor when the pressure in line C builds up, the same proportionally movesthe piston valve to the right, thus opening the hot water supply to thedesired degree to correspondwith thecold Water supply for the desiredblend. Thus, the piston valve, in a system such as a hotel with manytoilets and baths, maintains at each shower thev desired temperatureJwhen the cold water line is excessively used.

The preferred form Fig. 1 piston is of a character wherein all the Waterdischarged from the valve unit must pass through the central bores ofthe piston. This accounts for the sensitivity of this form. In theothers, Figs. 4 to 6, a small proportion does not necessarily have t0pass 40 through the central bores of the piston, hence their sensitivityis not as great.

While the invention hasv been illustrated and described in great detailin the drawings and lforegoing description, the same is to be'considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modincations described herein, as Well as others which willreadily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, all areconsidered to be within the broad scope of the invention, referencebeing had yto the appended claims.

The inventionr claimed is:

l. A valve unit comprising a valve body having a discharge bore, anintermediate bore and an intake borey the axes of said bores beingparallel; `said discharge lbore having spaced apart ports connectingYwith said intermediate bore and having discharge ports; said intakebore having intake ports and discharge ports communicating with saidintermediate bore; a piston-like control valve slideably mounted in saidintermediate bore having an axial centralbore divided by an intermediateWall to provide two separate passages each open at one end, each of saidpassages having an intake port adapted for communication with an intakeport of said intermediate bore, and an outlet port adapted forcommunication with afdischarge port of said intermediate bore and Valvelands at the opposite ends of said control valve for controlling thedischarge through the discharge ports of said intake bore into saidintermediate bore. i

2. A valve unit comprising a valve body having a discharge bore, anintermediate bore and an This valve unit, therefore, is capable' intakebore, the axes of said bores being parallel; said discharge bore havingspaced apart ports connecting with said intermediate bore and havingdischarge openings; said intake bore having intake ports and dischargeports communicating with said intermediate bore; a piston-like controlvalve slideably mounted in said intermediate bore having a central axialbore divided by an intermediate wall to provide two separate passages,each open at one end; each of said passages having an intake portadapted for communication with the intake ports of said intermediatebore, and an outlet port adapted for communication with a discharge portof said intermediate bore; valve lands at the opposite ends of saidcontrol valve for controlling the discharge through the discharge portsof said intake bore into said intermediate bore, and an intermediateland on said control valve dividing said intermediate bore into separatechambers.

3. A valve unit comprising a valve body having a discharge bore, anintermediate bore and an intake bore, the axes of said bores beingparallel; said discharge bore having spaced apart ports connecting withsaid intermediate bore and `having discharge openings; said intake borehaving intake ports and dicharge .ports connecting with saidintermediate bore; a piston-like control valve slideably mounted in saidintermediate bore having an axial central bore divided by anintermediate wall to provide '.two separate passages, each open at oneend, each of said passages having an intake port adapted forcommunication with the intake ports of said intermediate bore; an outletport adapted for communication with a discharge port of saidintermediate bore; valve lands at the opposite ends of said controlvalve controlling the discharge through the discharge ports of saidintake bore into said intermediate bore; and a cutoff valve in saiddischarge bore movable to separate the intake ports extending from saidintermediate bore to said discharge bore.

4. A valve unit comprising a valve body having a discharge bore, anintermediate bore and an intake bore, the axes of said bores beingparallel; said discharge bore having spaced apart ports connecting withsaid intermediate bore and having discharge ports, said intake borehaving intake ports and discharge ports communieating with saidintermediate bore; a pistonlike control valve slideably mounted in saidintermediate bore having an axial central bore divided by anintermediate wall to provide two separate passages, each open at oneend; each of said passages having an intake port adapted forcommunication with an intake port of said intermediate bore, and anoutlet port adapted for communication with a discharge port of saidintermediate bore; valve lands at the opposite ends of said controlvalve for controlling the discharge through the discharge ports of saidintake bore into the intermediate bore, and a cutoff valve in saidintake bore for cutting off communication between the intake ports insaid bore and the discharge ports in said bore.

5. A valve unit comprising a valve body having a discharge bore, anintermediate bore and an intake bore, the axes of said bores beingparallel; said discharge bore having spaced apart ports connecting withsaid intermediate bore and having discharge ports; said intake borehaving intake ports and discharge ports communicating with saidintermediate bore; a pistonlike control valve slideably mounted in saidintermediate bore having an axial central bore divided by anintermediate wall to provide two separate passages, each open at oneend; each of said passages having an intake port adapted forcommunication with an intake port of said intermediate bore; an outletport adapted for communication with a discharge port of saidintermediate bore; valve lands at the opposite ends of said controlvalve for controlling the discharge to the discharge port of said intakebore into the intermediate bore; a piston land on said control valveintermediate of its ends dividing said intermediate bore into separatechambers; and secondary piston lands interposed between saidintermediate piston land, and said valve lands on said valve member.

PAUL W. SANFORD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile oithis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 962,111 Assmann June 21, 19101,799,266 Wallace Apr. 7, 1931 1,807,040 Leonard May 26, 1931 2,308,127Symmons Jan. 12, 1943 2,417,158 Fraser Mar. 11, 1947 2,443,499 FraserJune 15, 1948 2,470,025 Fraser May 10, 1949,

